


Stolen Moments

by Oreogrrl



Category: Uncharted (Video Games)
Genre: Disney, F/M, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Gen, Uncharted 4 spoilers?, post uc4
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-06-07
Updated: 2016-08-03
Packaged: 2018-07-12 20:10:46
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 12
Words: 12,290
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7120720
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Oreogrrl/pseuds/Oreogrrl
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A few one-shots/short stories about the gang. Mostly set after UC 4, but a few scattered throughout the series.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Disneyland

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The gang goes on vacation

     There was nothing like the smell of popcorn and churros to remind Nathan Drake of the childhood he never had. All pity parties aside, Nate had never been happier than when his wonderful, intelligent daughter, Cassie, asked him if the Drake clan could make Disneyland their next vacation spot. Due to his happiness, lack of judgement, and lack of supervision, he said yes on the spot. So, here he was, with his daughter's hand in one of his own and his wife's in the other. The entire Drake-Fisher clan tried to make it out, which equated to Sam, Sully, and Elena's Mother, Evelyn, trailing slightly behind them.

     Cassie tugged gently on Nate's hand, and Nate looked down at her. Despite only being 6, he was amazed at how much she looked and acted like her mother. Her eyes were lit with joy the same way Elena's were the first time she saw Nate dragging Sir Francis Drake's fake coffin out of the water. Before he got lost in his thoughts about how lucky he was, Cassie's tiny voice filled his ears, "Daddy, I want to ride the pirate ride!"

     When everyone in the group heard her, all except for Evelyn, who was the only one uninformed of the group's previous adventures, began to laugh. Cassie made a sour face, thinking that they were laughing at her. As soon as Nate caught a glimpse at her, he scooped her up and held her against his hip. Sully took no time occupying the space that Cassie had been walking in and responding, "Like father, like daughter!"

     Cassie caught on and started one of her rapid fire question sessions. "Is that your favorite ride? Did you know that there's a real skeleton in there? Have you ever seen a skeleton?"

     Nate chuckled at the thought of Cassie reading a book about the secrets of Disneyland. Of course she researched the area before they left. As soon as she could read, Cassie was sure to read at least one book about wherever they were going to go and Disneyland was no exception. "It was my favorite. I think I found something better, though!" As he replied, Nate gave a wink to Elena. She rolled her eyes in response.

     "He thinks he's so clever," Elena whispered to Sam loud enough for Nate to hear. The group continued to chuckle with both Cassie and Evelyn left in the dark. While Nate and Elena knew that someday Cassie would have to learn about what had happened all those years ago, as far as Elena was concerned, her mother never needed to know anything about why she and Nate had been gone so often for so long.

     Nate attempted to redirect the question back to the plans for the day, "One pirate ride coming up... But first, it's picture time!" He said as he hoisted Cassie down from his hip.

     Everyone in the group, including Cassie, simultaneously let out a groan. If there was one reason that the Drakes wasted time during vacations, it was taking pictures. The group took no time finding someone who looked competent enough to snap the photo. Although no one in the group would ever admit it, they all secretly agreed that it was one of the best pictures from any vacation that they had all gone on together.

 

* * *

 

     Nate and Elena had prepared for the long lines almost religiously. They had word games and riddles set up for hours, but they were both at a loss when Cassie simply fell asleep on Elena's hip while the entire group was waiting to ride The Pirates of the Caribbean. Again.

     The line had severely increased since their morning ride, and with almost an hour left in line, Nate didn't know what to do until he suddenly felt inspiration wash through him when he saw Cassie asleep on the hip of what looked like a very content Elena. It took him no time to dig through his bag and find a pencil and his journal. He always kept the two with him in case a moment like this happened.

     He took his time, attempting to make the sketch slightly less rough than one of his other doodles. He finished with about 15 minutes left in the line, right as Cassie began to wake up. While Nate admired his own handiwork, Sully caught a glimpse of the sketch.

    "We're pretty fucking lucky, aren't we, kid?" Sully chuckled out softly.

     Nate nodded in agreement. "Pretty weird to think that I have all this." His eyes never left Elena.

     There was a moment of silence before Sam wriggled his way between the two. "What are we talki- Oh. That's not half bad, little brother."

     As the three of them scooted along in line, further ahead, Elena and Evelyn were having a similar conversation. "You should see the way he looks at you when you aren't watching." Evelyn told her daughter.

     "Hm?" Elena responded instinctively. She looked up at her mother and then at Nathan. Their eyes met for a second before Nate began to blush furiously. He waved at her as she asked, "What do you mean?"

     Evelyn took a moment to prepare her thoughts before telling Elena, "He looks at you like you're his saving grace. I mean, he looks at you like he can't believe you're real."

     Elena knew exactly why he looked at her like that, but while she had told her mom that over the years both Nate and herself had been injured somewhat, she had never told Evelyn about Nepal and her near fatality. In the hopes to avoid that conversation, Elena frantically tried to make an excuse for why Nate was looking at her like that. She quickly glanced over him and saw his journal in his hand. "No, mom. He's just drawing, see."

     At that moment, Cassie, whose attention had been wavering between the conversations around her and the dark, mysterious surrounding that she was engulfed in, finally decided to butt in. "I want to see!" She shouted to anyone in the group who would listen.

    Sam, eager to find any chance to embarrass his younger brother was quick to chime in, "Yeah, c'mon, Nate!"

    Both Elena and Nate responded at the same time, "Don't encourage her."

    Before Nate could finish, though, Cassie looked at him with the biggest puppy eyes ever imaginable. He liked to think he had some self control, but when those came out, there was nothing Cassie couldn't get him to do. "Oh alright, but remember, Daddy's no artist."

     Cassie wriggled with excitement as Nate made the few steps to cross to where she and Elena were. As soon as Nate arrived, Cassie drew her hand out to trace the thick outlines of the drawing. He chuckled at how curious she always was while Elena's subtle sigh went unnoticed. Both Elena and Nate knew what these drawings meant; what secret meanings they held.

     "Mommy, we're so pretty." Cassie stated. She didn't make it sound cocky or a joke. She stated it as a fact, and Nate couldn't have agreed more.

     "That's true, but you are so much more than that," he replied to Cassie in a whisper. He continued, "Both of you are smart and strong and funny." He accentuated every word by softly touching her head, squeezing her biceps, and tickling her stomach respectively.

     She began to laugh, and with that they edged the front of the line. "Time to pack away the drawing, Cass."

     She gave one last pout before asking, "Can I ride with Daddy this time?"

     As Elena passed Cassie off to Nate's arms, she leaned towards his ear and whispered, "I love you, too, Cowboy."

      That night, Nate fell asleep happier than he had ever been in his life. He truly believes that Disneyland was the happiest place on earth.


	2. News

For Nathan Drake days could start one of two different ways, okay or poorly. He was never a morning person; the nuns at the orphanage made him resent the mornings, and as much as he enjoyed treasure hunting, he never could come to enjoy waking up before dawn. Even all the mornings that he woke up next to his beautiful wife, Elena, couldn't truly make up for the fact that when ever he woke up, he felt like he had been forcibly torn from sleep. Before he turned 42 he never knew what a "good morning" entailed.

Nate's first good morning started as any other. He woke up too early for his own good, couldn't find where his clothes had fled to in the night, and felt like his bladder may burst of he did not pee within his first conscious seconds. He struggled to swiftly make it to the bathroom, but had no problem swiftly relieving himself of any pressures that may have built up during the night.

It wasn't until he was washing his hands that he had noticed that something had changed in the bathroom that he shared with Elena. What had once looked like the site of a natural disaster was now pristine with one small factor out of place. On the far corner of the counter sat an unfamiliar object.

Upon further examination Nate was able to process what it was. The blue plus and tell-tale logo made him feel week in his knees. He knew what it meant but something in his mind couldn't connect. He felt like he had to hear Elena say it.

"Uh... Hun?" He shouted towards her down the hall.

"Hm?" Elena responded with a smirk in her voice.

Nate hesitated for a moment before remarking, "Either someone has broken into our bathroom and is playing an elaborate prank on me, or you have something you need to tell me..." He sounded unsure, something that Elena had never heard before.

"Oh, yeah, I forgot to tell you, we ran out of milk the other day," Elena joked. She wanted to drag this out as long as she could. She considered it payback for all of the gags and jokes that Nate had ever pulled on her.

"Yeah, I'll get back to that, but first don't you think you should tell me something about this?" His voice carried closer and closer until he was in her office where she had been perched in preparation for this moment.

Elena whirled around in her office chair and saw him holding the pregnancy test in his hand. She gave him a grin that nearly made him cry. Nate couldn't believe it. "You're serious?" He asked for clarity one last time.

Elena bit her lip as she nodded furiously. She let out a small squeak as she suddenly found herself off of her chair and spinning through the air. "Oh my god," Nate whispered as he set her back down.

There was a weight in his voice that Elena couldn't ignore. "What's wrong?" she asked him, hoping for a straight response.

Her wishes were granted when stepped towards her and took her hands in his. "I'm just... scared." Nate paused before elaborating, "What if we end up like my parents?"

"Hey, hey." Elena stopped his train of thought. She attempted to stop him before he fell down into that pit that he so often found himself in in the middle of the night. "We won't. I'm here. I am not going anywhere." She stood up to meet his eyes and then continued, "We can do this, Nate." She paused and noticed that he had looked away. "Hey, look at me. You aren't him, okay?"

Nate simply nodded, knowing deep down that she was right but still worrying about how he would fare as a father. His worries slowly melted when Elena started to wipe the tears from his eyes and began to kiss him gently.

When she pulled back, he instinctively drew her closer. Elena chuckled at his protectiveness before wiggling out of the embrace. She walked over to her desk and unplugged her phone from where it had been charging. "Besides, there's no time to worry, I believe there may be a few calls we need to make..." She dialed the phone, and handed it to Nate, leaving him to figure out how to tell Sully the news.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am so glad that I have gotten so much positive feedback on this fic! I hope you guys enjoy it! I will be planning on writing more and publishing more regularly soon thanks to summer vacation.


	3. Grandpa

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, according to inferred dates and game guides, Elena and Nate have a 8-10 year age difference, and while it's not huge, I thought that it was worth exploring. I hope you guys like it!

Nate was charming, handsome, witty, and a whole host of other things, but if there was one thing he was not, it was a people person. That's why Elena was so surprised when he actually agreed to come get drinks with her and Sarah, one of her college friends who was in town for a while.

"You don't have to go," Elena reminded him. She appreciated the effort, especially since the pair didn’t get to go out that often now that Cassie had joined the family, but was worried that Nate and Sarah would not necessarily get along. Elena really didn’t want to spend that night having to repair her friendship due to Nate’s brash behavior, nor did she want to spend the night having to repair her marriage due to Sarah’s critical nature.

“Hey, Sully came out here to babysit, we might as well go,” Nate reminded her as he stepped into the cab that was obediently waiting in the street in front of their house.

Elena didn’t want to argue with him, so she let it drop. After settling in the back seat and interacting with the driver about their intended destination for a short while, Elena turned her attention back to Nathan. "Remember, small town." She warned him.

"What?" He asked while he scooted over the seat to put his arm around Elena’s shoulders.

"We went to college in a small town; she grew up in a small town; she is going to have a small town mind set." She elaborated. While Elena knew that Sarah loved her like a sister, she also knew that Sarah would not love Nate.

He wasn't worried, though. "Okay, I'll keep that in mind," he reassured her. 

Elena let him brush off the topic before switching back into their everyday conversations. They caught up on each other’s days, cracked a few jokes, and before they knew, they were paying the fare outside of the town’s newest, swankiest bar.

 

“Oh my god, Elena?!” A voice came from the bar as both Elena and Nate scouted the place for Sarah.

Elena whirled around to face the voice and was swept up in a hug. Once she was out of the unexpected embrace, she registered that the woman standing in front of her actually was Sarah. “Sarah! Oh my god, I didn’t even recognize you!” Elena noted. The two giggled half out of nerves and half out of pure giddiness.

“And you look exactly the same!” Sarah joked back in response. The two slid back into their easy friendship as if ten years hadn’t passed since the last time they talked face to face.

When Nate began to rub Elena’s back with one hand, she was pulled back into the reality in which those years had passed. “Oh!” She exclaimed. “You haven’t met Nate! Sarah, Nate,” Elena presented her husband with less flare than both Sarah and Nate wanted.

“He’s quite the dish…” Sarah trailed off, and if Elena hadn’t spent four years living with her, she would have thought that Sarah was hitting on him. When Elena glanced over at Nate, she noticed the slight blush that tinted his cheeks. “C’mon, sit down,” Sarah captured their attentions once again.

Once they had sat down and ordered drinks, Sarah began her interrogation. “So, Nate, what do you do for a living?” She asked him. While she was mostly worried for Elena’s wellbeing, she was partly just curious about the silver-fox type sitting next to her.

Elena shot Nate a silent warning, and unlike most of her other silent messages, he picked it up loud and clear. “Elena and I own a salvage company. Nothing too exciting.” He replied.

“No, I know about the business, I meant before.” Sarah pushed.

Nate began to panic, but his sanity kicked in and his paranoia took a backseat. “I guess I was a historian of sorts,” he responded.

“Oh.” was all that Sarah had to say. After a brief, awkward moment of silence, she began her questions once again. “So, how did you two meet?”

Elena decided to take the lead on this one. “Do you remember my show? The one I did straight out of college?” Sarah nodded. “Well, uh, we needed an expert of the subject for this one episode, and he seemed like the best option.” Elena paused for a moment and then added, “If I’m honest, we were really low on options.” While Sarah laughed, Nate found it less amusing.

Nate made a face and looked as if he were about to defend his own honor when his phone rang. “Oh, it’s Sam. I should probably take this,” he whispered to Elena. He excused himself from the group as Elena attempted to think about anything other than Nate whispering things into her ear.

“You’ve done pretty well, ‘Lena,” Sarah’s voice snapped her back into reality. “But, I have to ask you something. I’m warning you right now, I do not mean anything by it, I’m just curious,” she continued while Elena mentally prepared herself for whatever stupid question was coming her way. “How old is he?”

Elena was taken aback by the question. During their earlier adventures, almost no one noticed Nate and Elena’s age difference, including themselves, but as time went on, it started to become more and more obvious. It was no one’s fault, but it was something that she found herself having to explain to her mother and all of her co-workers and now to Sarah. “He just recently turned forty-two,” Elena replied.

“Don’t you think he’s a little old for you?” Sarah asked somewhat delicately.

Elena wanted to scream: “It’s not that big of a difference!” but instead settled for joking, “I met him when I was twenty-two; everyone was older than me.”

Sarah laughed, but could tell that she had hit a nerve in Elena. After that there was a long, gaping silence before Nate returned from his call. “It’s all good. Sam just says that his flight got delayed.”

He didn’t notice the shift in the air until Elena used Sam as an excuse. “Oh my god, Sam. I completely forgot that we have to pick him up in the morning. Oh, god, we should really be getting home,” she said as frantically as she could muster.

Nate was about to protest until he felt her hand grip his thigh. Her not so playful face told him that it was not a cheeky grab, but instead, was a motion to leave quickly. “Yeah, we probably should.” Nate played along. While he knew that something had happened when he was outside on the phone, he had no idea what it was.

 

Later on, once the pair had safely made it home and finally got Cassie to go to bed, Nate decided to open up the conversation that had been on his mind since they decided to prematurely leave the bar. “Hey, what’s wrong?” He asked Elena cautiously.

Elena, who was cuddled up next to him as they relaxed in their bed, instinctively pulled away. “What do you mean?”

“I mean, why did we leave early.” Nate questioned.

Her demeanor softened along with the worry in her face. “It’s nothing, I was just tired,” she lied. While she wanted to tell him, there was still a part of her the feared him thinking that it was too petty to be worried about.

Nate looked down at her and reminded her, “We made a promise to tell each other everything, remember?”

Elena let out a groan at the fact that he used her own words against her. “Fine.” She paused to completely articulate her thoughts. “I just feel like people are starting to notice.”

Nate felt completely in the dark. “Notice what?”

“Our age difference…” Elena explained.

He was surprised by the fact that people had only recently begun to notice. He thought that people would have been noticing this whole time. God knows he did. When they first hooked up, right after Panama, he didn’t even know how old she was, but as soon as he found out, he suddenly felt like he was too old for her. “Does it bother you? Not how people react, I mean does the age difference bother you?” Nate asked in response.

“No,” she admitted. “It never has. It just bothers everyone around us.”

“Well, they can call me grandpa as much as they want, then. If you are okay with it, then they need to be okay with it.”

Elena struggled out a sound that was half way between a sigh and a laugh. “I’m serious, Nate.”

He chuckled at her reply before responding, “I am too. I would protest you calling me grandpa, though.”

This time, she allowed herself to give a full out laugh. “Alright, but even your protests can’t stop me, grandpa.”


	4. Fair

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Cassie's thirteenth birthday didn't go as planned.

Birthdays were a special occasion in the Drake-Fisher household. Both Elena and Nate had never really been awarded the luxury of celebrating their birthdays during their childhood, so they decided that Cassie’s birthdays would always be special and unforgettable. Every year, they managed to deliver. From birthdays in India to meals cooked specially by Nate himself, the family always found a way to give Cassie the greatest birthdays ever, yet no matter where they go or what they do, Cassie will always regard her thirteenth birthday as the best.

Sam and Sully had always come to all of Cassie’s birthdays. It was a given that Nate, Sam, and Sully would all tease her and challenge her to some form of a battle. One year, however, Sully, being on a business trip, couldn’t make it to celebrate the birth of his adoptive granddaughter.

Cassie was devastated when she found out. “Sam, what do you mean?” She asked angrily.

Sam could only respond with a sheepish voice. “Uh, it means that Sully can’t make it this year.” When he saw that glare the lingered in Cassie’s eyes he added, “He’ll call during dinner, though.”

Cassie, half hurt and half ready to show the world that she truly was a teenager, stormed out of the living room and into her bedroom. When Nate caught a glimpse at the look on Sam’s face, he responded, “Don’t worry. She’ll get over it. She has a lot more birthdays left to go.”

Sam nodded and let her go. As the night went on, both Elena and Nate tried to coax Cassie out of her room to no avail. Elena couldn’t convince her to come out using her classic soothing voice and weird music techniques. Nate couldn’t even use the lure of food to convince her to leave her room. Finally, after the three adults had eaten dinner, Sam went in on one final mission.

“Dad, go away!” Cassie exclaimed when she heard heavy footsteps outside of her door.

Sam continued to walk into the room holding a piece of cake. “Hey, now, you wouldn’t give me the boot, would you?” He replied while waving the dessert around. Cassie perked up slightly and scooted over as soon as he motioned to sit next to her. “Now, before you can eat the cake, you have to answer a question.” He paused for effect and Cassie responded with a groan. “What’s up?” Cassie gave him a look that was a mixture of her mother’s glare and her father’s smirk and was 100 percent herself. “I’m serious. What’s up?”

She let out a sigh and took a moment to articulate her thoughts before simply letting out a guttural sound that indicated more physical pain than emotional. Sam sat stunned and silent for a few minutes before Cassie gave a genuine response. “I’ve never had a birthday without you and Sully. I guess it just feels wrong to celebrate without him.” She paused to lean against Sam’s shoulder. “It just doesn’t feel like a birthday.” She explained.

Sam looked down at her drooping head and realized what birthdays meant to her. He had never felt that kind of weight towards birthdays. They were merely a day that he would have another blaring reminder that his mother was dead, and his father was a prick. “Hey, I’m still here, aren’t I?” He supplied in modest support.

“Yeah, but you’re no good if you’re not giving me cake,” she joked back.

Sam was happy to see Cassie joke, but he knew what he had to do to finally bring her out of her room. “Well, here you go,” he replied pointedly. He handed her the slice of cake that he had and stayed still while she took the first bite. As soon as she set down her fork, Sam was quick to shove the cake into her face. She shrieked in the surprise, and thankfully for both of them, Cassie had taken her glasses off earlier when she had begun to cry. The fact that her glasses were unscathed still wasn’t enough to save Sam from her wrath, though.

She was even quicker in taking the remains of the cake from her face and transferring them onto his. “Hey! That’s not fair!” Sam cried out.

Cassie laughed before licking the rest of the cake off her face. “It’s not fair that you wasted an entire piece of my cake.” She responded.

“I don’t think it was a waste…” Sam shot back.

They both giggled as Nate walked into the room. “What are you guys do- Oh, no. Sam, wasn’t there anything else you could have done?”

Soon after Elena joined them. “What is goi- Oh my god. I am not cleaning this up.” She scolded them.

Sam didn’t have much to say in his defense other than, “Okay, _that_ is fair.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am so glad that everyone has been enjoying the fic. I am not going to lie, I think this is the most fun I have had writing any fic.


	5. Brazil

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Cassie is stubborn and cute

Cassie Drake was just like all of the other kids at her high school: slightly insane, stressed out like no tomorrow, and totally in love with someone. For Cassie, this someone wasn’t just anyone; no, it was the wittiest, sharpest, and prettiest girl in the entire school: Sarah Williams. The pair had become fast friends, and it’s not like she was the first girl Cassie had ever found herself in love with, but for some reason, it felt this different this time. No one was really surprised though when Cassie pulled out all the stops in order to impress Sarah.

“Hey you need a story for your final project in Journalism, right?” Cassie brought up out of the blue shortly after second quarter had begun.

Sarah took a bite of her lunch before answering, “Yeah, I guess.”

Cassie lit up. “Are you doing anything during Spring Break?” She asked with excitement bubbling up and out of her speech.

“No…” Sarah trailed off and paused before adding, “Should I be worried?”

Cassie giggled nervously at the joke. It was all good; Sarah was joking, and not totally ignoring her. She let out a sigh before rapidly asking, “Do you want to come with me and my family down to Brazil? We are working on a new site, and it seems promising as far as artifacts go.”

Sarah sat slightly dumbstruck. “You’re inviting me to a historical site just so that I can write an article for a Journalism class?”

“Uh, maybe.” Cassie tried to put the brakes on the conversation as fast as possible, hoping that she hadn’t completely ruined her chances with Sarah. “If you don’t want to go that’s tot-“

While Cassie continued to backtrack, Sarah responded, “Of course I want to come! I have to ask my mom, though.”

Fireworks exploded in Cassie’s mind, and it took her quite a while to find the right words to reply. “That’s great, yeah, uh, just text me.” With perfect timing the warning bell rang, and the two packed up what was left of their lunches and headed back to class.

* * *

 

After weeks and weeks of planning had gone by, Cassie and Sarah finally found themselves in Brazil along with Cassie’s parents and her uncle. As the days went on, Cassie had yet to find any time to make good on her promise to herself and tell Sarah how she felt. The tension and anger within herself came to full tilt when Cassie found Sam telling Sarah some embarrassing stories about her.

“…One hundred percent naked. That’s how she wanted to stay, and god damn it if anyone was gonna force her to put on clothes. Is she still that stubborn about everything?” Sam joked as the pair dutifully stayed out of the way of the professionals.

Sarah laughed that one of a kind laugh that made Cassie feel like she was going to melt and answered, “Yes!”

Cassie could feel her cheeks heating up and turning red. She took no time interrupting their conversation in order to give Sam a very Cassie-like warning. “Hey, Sam, can we talk for a second?” She gave him the same face that Elena always gave him when she wanted to tell him that he didn’t have a choice.

The Sam scurried off behind her into a slightly more private area before he asked, “What’s up, Cass?”

“Just, don’t tell her that kind of stuff.” She said bluntly. The words took Sam, who had never found himself scolded for telling her friends those kinds of stories, by surprise.

“Whoa, seriously, what’s wrong?” Sam had started to worry about Cassie near the beginning of the trip, but now he couldn’t keep to the background.

It took her a few moments to build up the courage actually tell him everything. She let out a soft sight before explaining, “I need you to be my wingman, for once. Not my uncle.”

Sam chuckled at the girl’s choice of words before what she had said truly settled in. “Oh.” He paused to contemplate the best course of action. “Let me advise you as both: Just tell her.”

Having heard those words in every article, tv show, and movie she had ever seen, Cassie stuck out her tongue in annoyance. “Fine, I’ll tell her.”

“Tonight?” He half asked half begged.

Cassie let out a groan and agreed, “Tonight.”

As “tonight” approached, Cassie became more and more nervous. She found herself pacing around the long corridor that led to some secret chamber that she was supposed to be examining. The words that she had originally written down as a letter were now glued to her mind as she practiced saying them over and over again. “I appreciate our friendship, and I want it to be preserved, but I also want you to know that I like you as more than a friend.” Cassie kept wavering between scolding herself for the words being too formal and scolding herself for even trying to tell Sarah in the first place.

Finally, a couple hours after dinner had passed, Cassie invited Sarah to stargaze with her. When Sarah walked out of her tent, Cassie felt all of her nerves spike. “That’s a really nice dress,” Cassie tried to sound casual.

Sarah blushed and gave a subtle “thanks.”

Together they walked to what Cassie and Sam had found to be the best place for stargazing. Cassie revealed a blanket that she had been carrying and attempted to splay it out perfectly flat. Despite its inability to lay unwrinkled, the girls still laid down on top of the fabric.

Once they had gotten settled, Cassie decided it was time. “Hey, uh, can I tell you something?” She felt the sweat in her palms and the nerves in her stomach.

“Sure…”

Cassie exhaled once before she decided to scrap her scripted conversation. “So, uh, I really liked having you here.”

Sarah smiled and responded, “I liked being here.”

Once more, Cassie found herself trying to dance around having to say the actual words: I think I love you. “I’ve never known anyone like you,” she said both in awe of Sarah and in awe of the situation that she found herself in.

“Thanks…”

Internally, Cassie couldn’t stop kicking herself. Eventually, the silence ran her dry of any patience for herself. “I really like you. As more than a friend, I mean.” Cassie blurted out.

Preparing for the worst, she was surprised when she found Sarah’s lips slowly getting closer and closer to her own. As soon as she recognized what was happening, Cassie sped up the process and quickly found herself lost in the pure joy of kissing Sarah.

When they parted, Sarah giggled and whispered, “I know.”

At any other time, Cassie would have hated her for making a stupid reference that didn’t even really work, but in that moment, she was too happy to care. “Shut up,” was all the protest that Cassie could muster before going back in for another kiss. As much as she hated to admit it, she knew that she had to thank Sam for convincing her to tell Sarah.


	6. Feeling

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Elena wakes up for the first time after the events in Shambhala and Nate is there, just like always.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Quick reminder: I take requests! You can ask in the comments, or send me a message, or even contact me through my tumblr: bigbyywolff.tumblr.com

            The first time Elena Fisher fell in love with Nathan Drake, she could see it coming from a mile away. The minute that she laid eyes on his charming smirk and mesmerizing eyes, she knew that she was done for. The second time Elena Fisher fell in love with Nathan Drake, she couldn’t see it coming until it was too late.

            After she and Nate broke up, Elena thought that she was truly over with that time in her life was over. She was done going two weeks with Nate in Florida and then going two months without him by her side. She had decided that she would be the one gone travelling. Before Nepal, she had already been around the world writing at least 5 big pieces with research in at least 10 different countries.

            The research kept getting more and more dangerous, for reasons that Elena couldn’t exactly name. If she were to be honest with herself, the adventure reminded her of Nate and all of the joy that he brought her, but in reality she would always claim that it was only the way that the stories took her. Even Jeff, her loyal cameraman, had begun to worry about the stories and legends that she started chasing.

            To be honest, the situations that she had begun to find herself in made it very unsurprising when Nate Drake found his way back into her life in Nepal. What was surprising, though, was the way Elena felt when she saw his face again for the first time in six months. While she was definitely mad at him for how he had left things back in the States, she was kind of happy to just know that he was close. It was a feeling that she could remember vividly: Every time she went to pick him up from the airport this feeling ran through her veins and radiated out of her body. In Nepal, Elena hoped that could conceal it enough to get out without the extra pain of leaving Nate behind once again.

            In all of her planning of what was going to happen to her and Nate after Nepal, she had not prepared for Harry Flynn’s parting gift. As Chloe and Nate carried her out of the debris, and towards the tree of life, Elena slipped in and out of consciousness, picking up small bits of what was going on around her. She could hear the two talking but was only able to understand a few bits of it. “Hey Elena, how you doing, huh?” Nate asked as soon as the action died down. She attempted to respond but all she could muster was a groan of pain.

            After that, Elena was in too much pain to pay attention to what was happening, and eventually went unconscious. Finally, after a few days, she woke up. Despite her body being down and out for multiple days, she still woke up in a panic, and didn’t calm down until the pain in her chest shot throughout the rest of her body. As soon as she stopped wiggling, she tried crying out “Nate?!”

            There was the sound of clanking and crashing along with rushed steps towards her room. “Oh my god.” Nate’s familiar voice exclaimed. He called for Tenzin as he reached Elena’s side. She reached out for him, but was shocked to find pain traveling from her chest throughout the rest of her body. As soon as Elena showed any signs of distress, Nate was there, cradling her head and easing her body into a sitting position.

            “Sh, it’s okay.” Nate hushed her sighs. “I’m here. I’m here.” He kept repeating. Elena couldn’t help the smile from forming on her face when she was reminded of the fact that he was in fact by her side.

            After a few minutes of peace, Elena remembered why she was bedridden in the middle of Nepal in the first place. “Lazarevic…” She trailed off in worry.

            “He’s dead.” Nate responded before recalling why Elena was even trailing him to begin with. “For real this time.” He added.

            There was silence for a few moments until Elena decided to mutter, “thank you.” Neither of them wanted to admit it, but both were so close to losing each other this time around, and while Elena wasn’t ready to say “I love you” again, she knew that this would have to do for the mean time.

            Nate understood exactly what she meant, and in return, he gave her his own coded “I love you”: “I was so scared I was going to lose you.” While both of them knew that he did lose her when he walked out in Florida, neither wanted to go back to that place or that time.

            For a short while, they stayed like that: Elena cradled in Nate’s arms while they just looked at each other. Elena was studying the lines of his face, memorizing the look he gave when he was relieved; Nate was examining how her body moved and strained, half out of pure love for everything about her and half out of the want to be able to shield her from any pain. Once Nate noticed her body moving in even more pain, he decided to let her rest. “You should go back to sleep,” he explained as he set her back down.

            Despite her protests, she still complied, all the while hanging on tight to Nate’s hand. “Don’t let go,” she whispered before her eyes fluttered shut and she found herself yet again whisked away into sleep.

            Nate smiled and replied softly in her ear, “never.”


	7. Death

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This is an AU where Nate dies while on the hunt for Avery's treasure. I thought about what would happen if he died after I heard Elena say the line, "If you were killed, I wouldn't have even known about it," and while she says she wouldn't have known about it, I feel like Sully would have called her almost immediately.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for everyone's support! I am currently working on a few of the requests that I received and I am hoping to be able to write a good chunk of them soon!

Elena Fisher never thought that she would be widowed at age of 31. After all of their close calls, she and Nate made a deal that they were done with that. No more waiting in strange hotel rooms for the other to wake up; no more calling Sully in a panic about the other's health. They said that they were done, yet here she was, answering a phone call from one Victor Sullivan.

Elena knew that something was off as soon as she read Sully’s name on the caller ID. Her faith in the truth behind the Malaysia job had already run thin, but this was the nail in the coffin. "Sully, what's wrong?" She asked with a hint of sass in her voice.

"It's, um, it's about Nate..." He trailed off in response.

She was sure that it was only going to about some stupid little job that Sully felt guilty about roping him into. While she was furious that Nate had felt the need to lie to her, she at was at least relieved to hear from him. “God, can you just put him on the line?” As much as Elena loved Sully, she needed to hear the truth from Nate.

“Oh, kid…” Sully paused to find the right words. Elena could hear him take a deep breath before explaining, “Nathan died. I’m so sorry.”

Elena couldn't believe it. She didn't want to believe it. "No. No. He's in Malaysia on work." She ranted, hoping that saying it would somehow make it true.

Sully had maintained an air of solemn composure for the entire night, but he felt like Elena deserved better than his fake calmness. "I'm sorry, Elena. We did the best we could to patch him up, but it didn't help him much." He cried out.

When she heard him say 'we,' her denial turned into anger. "There was more than just you and you couldn't keep him safe?! You made a promise to me Sully. You promised that if he ever did this, he'd be safe!"

* * *

 

It was a promise that neither of them had forgotten. It was made shortly after Nate and Elena had gotten back together for the second time. One night, when Nate was in a dark place and Elena couldn’t help him, she called up Sully.

“I think he’s going to leave again.” She told him while she paced the hallway soon after she had finally gotten Nate to sleep. Sully tried to reassure her, but she was not going to have it. “You have to promise me you’ll keep him safe if he does.”

Sully knew that Elena loved Nate more than anything in the world, and he didn’t have the heart to tell her about all of the near-death experiences that Nate had under Sully’s supervision, so he simply responded, “I promise.”

Despite having been dishonorably discharged from the marines, having broken more than enough oaths to count, this was the promise that gutted him the most. He would never say it, but if Nate was the son he never had, Elena was the daughter he never had. The fact that he was the one to ruin her entire life was something that Sully was never able to get over.

* * *

 

Elena’s voice brought Sully back into the moment. “Who else was there? Charlie? Chloe?” As he attempted to piece together where exactly in the conversation his mind began to wander, she left her somewhat frantic state and instead offered him these words: “I have a right to know.”

Sully didn’t know how to break it to her; her husband died under the watch of the two people who should have protected him to the ends of the earth. “It was someone you don’t know,” was the only explanation that he could find the strength to give.

Elena let out a hollow laugh. “Dear lord, some fucking stranger gets to share his last moments.” She waited to properly construct her thoughts before adding, “Sully, I hadn’t seen him in weeks.”

“It wasn’t a stranger,” he replied sheepishly.

Elena wasn’t in the mood for puzzles or riddles. “Who the hell was it, Sully? I knew all of his contacts.”

There was a long pause between her last words and his answer. She could hear him gulp for air as he began, “It was his older brother.”

She didn’t want to believe Sully; not only did Nate lie about where he was and what he was doing, but he lied about his entire past. Elena had never felt so foolish in her life. She fell for a man with no family, a man who understood what it was like to grow up cold and lonely, not a man who had the love and warmth of an older brother. “No. He doesn’t have any family.” Elena corrected Sully, wishing that she was right.

Her words hit him hard. He knew what she meant, but Sully couldn’t help but feel like her words were somehow pointed at his failure as a step-in father. “I’m sorry,” was his only defense. He felt like couldn’t handle it, and for the first and last time ever, he hung up on Elena.


	8. Scars

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> @FemaleProtagonist asked for what happened after cut of the couch scene. It turned into this angsty mess.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for everyone's feed back! I am working on a lot of the requests right now!

Playful competition was key to a good relationship in Elena’s book. Lucky for her, Nathan Drake was never one to shy away from a good bet, so here she was, pinned underneath her husband while he tickled her. After her yelps and giggles that implied a cry for mercy, he paused his torture.

Elena took advantage of the moment to ask him something that she constantly found herself asking. “Hey, are you happy?”

“Yeah, of course,” he replied. While it was mostly true, Elena could still see an emptiness in his eyes that betrayed his words. “You?” he shot back.

In the hopes of avoiding turning a long day into an even longer one, she decided to let it slide, and instead answered, “um…”

She turned her head away to conceal her grin while Nate mulled over her answer. “Um? Really?”

“C’mere,” Elena responded as she turned back to face him. Slowly, she leaned up to kiss him. As soon as their lips met, it was as if nothing had happened to question the sanctity of their relationship. All of their worries simply melted away.

After their initial emotional wading, the kiss grew deeper and deeper until Nathan pulled back suddenly. Before Elena was given the opportunity to whine, his lips met her neck as his hands traveled to work on the buttons on her shirt. “Why do you like button up shirts so much?” he mumbled into her skin.

Something about the question made her pause for a moment. They had been together for almost ten years and he had never asked her that. For some reason it made her feel all bubbly; she liked the fact that even after all these years they still had a lot to learn about each other.

The thought quickly left her mind as soon as she felt Nate’s hands roam towards her chest. Although she was fully healed from the blast in Shambhala, Elena never learned how to feel confident when Nate saw her chest. Before they had broken up for the first time, he told her that her chest was his favorite part of her body. He never said it in a gross way. He said it as his own, “I love you,” and Elena always felt like the scars took that away from him.

Nate noticed the way that she pulled back from his touch. Neither the scars nor the thoughts were new, but he could tell that something was different. “You know I love you, right?” He asked, trying to avoid using the word scar in his reassurance.

“I know…” she sighed.

He wouldn’t let it drop, though. “Elena, please. Tell me what’s up?”

She had resisted telling him for almost eight years. Finally, she gave in. “I feel like I took something away from you.”

“What?” Nate was even more confused than when he asked what was wrong.

“The first time we actually made love, you told me you loved my chest,” she reminded him.

Although he never forgot that night, he let the memory flood his mind for the first time in a long while.

* * *

 

“God, I love you,” Nate exclaimed in awe as Elena giggled at the sensation of his stubble on her breasts. “I love this…” he added.

They continued to explore each other’s bodies at a pace much slower than they had ever before. Finally, after almost 30 minutes of memorizing Elena’s body, he grazed his fingers over her chest and whispered, “My favorite part of your body is your chest.” His voice sounded definite, as if he was answering some unasked question, but his eyes told her that he was simply amazed. She never knew, but he was amazed at how much he could love someone.

* * *

 

“I feel like the scars took that away from you…” Elena continued.

Nate’s heart broke at the idea that she had thought that he resented her scars. “I love them,” he told her. “They mean that nothing _was_ taken away from me. They remind me that you’re here.”

Elena couldn’t help the tears that fell from her eyes. She felt as if twenty tons that had been sitting on her shoulders for eight years were finally lifted. As Nate’s hands came to wipe away her tears, she let out a small laugh. “I love you so much,” he expressed in complete adoration for her.

She gave him a long kiss before responding, “I love you, too.”


	9. Love

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> @FemaleProtagonist requested Cassie's birth, and I couldn't help myself...

Nine months. That was the deal that Elena Fisher made with her body the night that she and her husband decided not to use any birth control until they could conceive a child. Yet here she was, after almost ten months, completely ready to get Cassandra Pema Drake-Fisher out of her womb and into the world. Both Elena and Nate knew that pregnancy would take a toll on her, especially after all of the complications thanks to the blast in Nepal, but they did not completely understand just how irritated and tired Elena would be 95% of the time; she complained often enough that it was during one of her many pregnancy rants that her water broke.

“I’m serious, how are people supposed to do this more than once? This is awful,” Elena whined to Nate.

Just as he was about to respond with some witty comment, both of Elena’s hands flew to her protruding stomach. She winced in pain before pausing to fully assess the situation. They had had a few false alarms before, but judging by the wetness on her legs and spreading around her, it was the real thing. “Nate…” her voice quivered, “it’s happening.”

He couldn’t believe it. Whether he was shocked or scared, even he couldn’t tell. “Are you sure?” He asked for clarification.

After feeling another sharp pain, Elena shouted out, “yeah, I’m sure!”

In a panic, Nate grabbed the pre-packed overnight bag and helped usher her out of the door and into the house. It took the two a few moments to situate Elena in the passenger seat, but once Nate was in the driver seat, he took no time rushing to the closest hospital. During their drive to the hospital, Nate somehow managed to call both Sully and Sam to let them know that it was finally happening.

Their speedy rhythm was cut short by paperwork and questions that somehow frustrated Nate more than Elena. Finally, once they were settled in a room, Nate realized exactly what was happening. “Oh my god. We’re gonna be a family,” he gasped out.

Elena, not sure if it was fear or awe in his voice, simply nodded and added, “A great family.”

Everything after that began to rush past in a stressful blur. All Elena remembers is how utterly painful it was; all Nate remembers is feeling helpless that he couldn’t ease his wife’s pain. Her cries did nothing to ease either party, and Nate was sure that he was going to need to get his hand checked out before they left the hospital.

Once the birth itself was over, their daughter was swaddled, and the two were finally given the chance to see her. “She’s beautiful.” Nate exclaimed in wonder. As he sat next to his wife, holding their newborn child, he realized just how lucky he was.

“Cassandra Drake…” Elena hummed out in a happy daze.

Something about hearing her name made something in him breakdown. Nate had yet to process the fact that she was truly his daughter, with the same name as his mother and the same eyes as his wife. He couldn’t help the tears that began to well in his eyes.

Elena quickly noticed the tears that began to roll down his cheeks and onto his shirt collar. She slowly reached up towards him and wiped them away. “I love you, so much,” she whispered.

After his tears dried and Cassie was lulled into sleep, they all sat in silence for a few moments. Elena was soaking in the warmth that radiated from her husband while Nate relished in the love that filled the room.

Elena quickly followed their daughter into slumber, and Nate was left to his own thoughts. For quite a while, he couldn’t find any way to fully conjure the right words to express what he was thinking, so he simply began to ramble. “I will never let anything happen to you. You will be so loved, so cared for. I will never leave you,” he promised. He knew deep down that his words were meant to reassure himself more than anything else, but putting them out in the world seemed to calm both of the sleeping parties.

Before Nate could continue, there was a small knock at the door. Slowly, he untangled his arm from Elena’s side and walked over to open it. Expecting some form of nursing staff to be on the other side, he was surprised to find Sam and Sully behind the door.

“Congrats, kid,” Sully spoke softly as they entered the room.

The silence that filled the room after sat warm and pleasant above their heads. Finally, after multiple hugs and gasps of awe, Nate decided to speak up. “It’s pretty amazing, isn’t it,” he sighed out towards the other two.

While neither Sam nor Sully knew exactly what kind of sensation it was to witness your own child enter this world, they could take a good bet as to how it felt. They hummed in agreement as they padded closer towards the bed in which Elena was still sleeping and holding her daughter. As soon as Sam peeked over the swaddling blanket and saw Cassie for the first time he couldn’t believe that his baby brother now had a baby of his own. “She’s so beautiful,” he murmured.

A few moments later, Elena’s eyes fluttered open. After a short readjustment, she greeted her visitors with a soft smile. “Would you like to hold her?” she asked knowingly.

Both Sully and Sam nodded their heads furiously, and Elena handed off the small child to Sully. As he stood there with the young girl in his arms, he began to tear up. Blood or not, this girl was his granddaughter and he couldn’t have been happier with the family that he was embedded into.

Soon after, Sam took the child in his own arms and finally asked the million dollar question. “What’s her name?”

Nate looked at Elena, silently asking permission to be the one to tell him. With her blessing, Nate replied, “Cassandra Pema…”

Both men were struck by the names. Eventually, Sam, too, began to feel tears welling in his eyes. At that moment both brothers knew that no matter what family they had been deprived of during their childhood, they had somehow managed to build the best family that either could have hoped for. “She’d be so proud, little brother,” he choked out.

“I hope so, Sam” Nate responded. In the moments that followed, everyone in the room, including Cassie, felt a great calmness that couldn’t have been found anywhere else, and although they would never tell anyone, the Drake brothers both believed that Cassandra Morgan was somehow behind the beautiful warmth and love that radiated within that room.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am so glad the people are enjoying this fic so much! In case you didn't know, I also do edits, and right now I am doing a giveaway for my edits on my tumblr: bigbyywolff.tumbr.com! The specific post can be found here: http://bigbyywolff.tumblr.com/post/147063716658/300-follower-giveaway


	10. Father

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> @Bourne requested what happened between Elena and Sully after she walked out of the hotel in Madagascar.

If there was one thing that Nathan Drake was truly better at than his wife it was walking away. He could walk away from his problems, run away from his enemies, and briskly jog away from his responsibilities. For once, though, Elena finally took her queue and walked out the door of Nate’s dingy room in the only hotel in the small port city in Madagascar in which Nate found himself on the hunt for Henry Avery’s treasure.

She didn’t exactly understand how it was supposed to work, but according to her calculations, Nathan should have run after her. To her surprise, the heavy footsteps that followed her belonged to Sully, not Nate. “Hey, ‘Lena! Wait!” He shouted at her as she continued her journey to the closest phone.

The sadness and disappointment that had been present during her conversation with Nate had mixed and faded into anger at the sight of Sully. “What, did he lie to you, too?” Elena guessed.

He internally chuckled at her wit, but externally shook his head. “No, not quite.” He paused to gain his composure. “Listen, he’s stupid,” Elena huffed out in agreeance, “but he’s charming enough that you married him. Twice.”

She thought about his words before deciding to ignore their value. “Yeah, well, ‘fool me once, shame on you; fool me twice, shame on me…’” she spat.

As Elena continued to walk away from the hotel that housed her lying husband, Sully, who had previously been running to catch up with her, suddenly stopped his steps. “You know he’s going to get himself killed now!” He shouted at her

“Excuse me?” Elena whirled around to face him.

Elena’s eyes could have burned a hole through Sully’s skull had he not been accustomed to her mannerisms. “You know he’s not going to be safe now.”

She couldn’t believe what she was hearing. “’he’s not going to be safe now’? _now?_ You think I didn’t see the wreck at the shipping yard? He was never safe, Sullivan. Don’t pin this on me,” Elena commanded.

Sully, somewhat shocked by the use of his full last name, knew that she would eventually come around and help him save Nate’s ass, but for now he continued to attempt to talk with her. “Look, now he’s too emotional. He can’t survive if he acts on his emotions; we both know that,” he explained.

After letting out a large sigh, her emotions got the better of her. “I’m done, Sully,” she responded between cries.

For a moment, he was taken aback. The only other time he had seen Elena cry was at her own wedding. Somehow, Sully felt like he knew what he had to do. “C’mere,” he motioned for her as he opened up his arms. Betraying her normal composure, Elena took no time slumping into Sully’s arms and continuing to cry.

The two of them stood in the middle of the street for quite a while. Sully attempted to soothe her the best he could, but her tears didn’t cease. After a while, her tears were no longer about Nate, but instead about her own father. It was only during her more emotional moments that she awarded herself the chance to think about her father, and what her life had been since he died when she was only a child. Sure, Sully was nothing like her father, but she always felt like, to some degree, he helped soften the pain of not having a father of her own.

After twenty minutes of sobbing outside, Sully piped up, “Let’s get you inside, ‘Lena.”

So emotionally distressed, she barely noticed the fact that he ushered her into the room next to where her possibly ex-husband was brooding. Once inside, Sully attempted to usher her to the bed to get rest. “No, Sully, it’s fine. I can handle the couch,” she told him while pointing to the pullout that looked as if it had already been slept in.

“I’m not asking,” he warned in the best dad voice that he could manage.

Elena, too tired to put up a fight, gave in. As she leaned back and attempted to become comfortable on the cheap mattress, she let her eyes close. “Who is he?” She asked. The calmness in her body and voice betraying the weight of her question.

Unsure of which man she was referring to, Sully answered for both. “A stupid Drake with a stupid obsession with pirate treasure.”

She let out a small giggle before taking Sully’s hand in her own. “Sully?” She paused to make sure that he was listening. “Thank you.”

Her thanks caught him by surprise. He was so struck that he didn’t know how to respond. Instead, he used his free hand to bring the blankets up to her chest. Her happy groan made him chuckle internally.

“Get some rest,” he suggested as he walked towards the door. The lack of response was all he needed to know that she was already out. As soon as he was out of the room, his own thoughts began to run wild. He realized that no matter what happened to Nate and Elena’s marriage, he cared too much to leave either in the dust. It scared Sully to think about it, but he truly loved Elena his own daughter, and he knew he would have to beat the shit out of Nathan if he ever tried to pull a stunt like this again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you everyone for your lovely support!


	11. Smoking

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> @Heartstrings Pulled requested Sam quitting smoking. Fun Fact: Sully mentions something about a bet about smoking in his letter in the epilogue!

There were only two things in this world that could motivate Samuel Drake to do anything: a good old fashioned bet, and his family. From cooking and cleaning, to taking a job, Sam would only ever agree if it helped his family, or quenched his thirst for a much needed, good gamble. So, naturally, when someone in his family made him a bet, there was no way of turning it down.

“I’m just gonna take a sec,” Sam told his younger brother Nathan as he stepped outside of Nate’s house. He and Elena had made it very clear that Sam could only smoke outside, away from Cassie, and he understood why; her young lungs were too good to ruin with second-hand smoke.

“C’mon, really, Sam?” Nate shouted as the door closed.

“Yeah, Indie waits for no man; smoking or not!” Cassie chimed in while she jumped over the back of the couch with a bowl of popcorn that miraculously stayed intact.

Sam chuckled for outwardly appearance, but something about their comments bothered him. Sure, Nate had teased him about smoking before, but Cassie had never said anything about it.

On the other side of the door, both Nate and Cassie were trying to come up with an intervention of sorts. “No, we’ve tried that before. It didn’t work,” Nate politely shot down her idea for tossing all cigarettes in a 5 mile radius.

After a few moments of silence between the two, Cassie had one of her famous eureka moments. “What if we make it a bet?” She thought out loud.

Nate mulled it over before answering, “Not a bad idea, Cas.”

Together they formulated the terms and conditions of the bet: 1) No smoking, no vaping, no e-cigs; 2) Sully had to quit too; and 3) If both of them could keep it up until their visit next year, Nate and Cassie would have to do whatever the other two said and drinks were on Nate. It may not have been the highest staked bet that either Nate or Sam had taken on, but Cassie and Nate were hopeful that it would work.

Soon after they agreed on the terms, Sam returned from his smoke break. Surprised by the lack of Indiana Jones playing on the tv, he asked, “What’s up?”

“We have a proposition,” Cassie stated. Despite only being thirteen, she knew how to hold her own when it came to her family.

Both Sam and Nate chuckled at her formality. “Go on…” Sam was curious.

Continuing her false air of properness, Cassie elaborated, “We wish to bet you on your smoking habits.”

Sam knew it was coming, but it still struck him once she said it. He paused a moment before maintaining his humorous mask. “What’s in it for me?” he asked.

“Good beer!” Nathan interjected before Cassie could answer.

She expanded, “- And we have to do what ever you say for a day!”

Sam laughed and responded, “That would be a nice change!” He pretended to ponder his options before questioning the pair once again. “What do I need to do for this so-called good beer and free labor?”

Cassie decided to lay it out straight. “You,” –“And Sully,” Nate interrupted her. – “yeah, and Sully, need to quit smoking. If you can go the next twelve months without it, then the beer is all yours.”

Sam felt duped to some degree. “Whoa, no way. Sully is never going to give up his cigars!”

“Too bad!” Cassie supplied in a cheery voice. Both Drake brothers snorted at the response.

After a few moments of silence, Sam walked up to Cassie and held out his hand. “Fine.” He huffed out in defeat. She decided to savor the moment by patting his shoulder before actually shaking his hand. Sam was prepared to take on this bet at all costs.

* * *

 Twelve months and many tempting nights later, Sam and Sully had somehow managed to keep from smoking for a whole year. Sure, the scent of smoke still lingered in all of their clothes – and Sully’s plane – but they both felt lighter somehow. Mostly, Sam was excited that he won the bet.

“I am so ready for a good vacation!” Sam gasped as soon as he stepped out of Sully’s small plane that had landed on the microscopic airstrip a few miles away from Nate and Elena’s home.

Sully gaped at his younger partner. “Kid, we’ve both been retired for six months…”

Quickly, Sam came up with his excuse. “Well, sometimes you need a break from all the jet setting and lady-catching.”

Together, they chuckled as they walked off towards the Drake-Fisher family jeep.

Throughout the five minutes that it took to get from the airstrip to the house, pleasant chatter filled the car. Only Elena had come to pick them up, because Nate and Cassie were still “preparing” as she had put it. Both Sully and Sam were a little worried as to what the father-daughter team could have been preparing.

Once they arrived at the house, Cassie came bounding out from the side door. Barefoot and still in her sweatpants and a t-shirt, she sprinted towards the group. With perfect timing, she latched on to Sully as soon as he hopped out of the car. “Sully!” She exclaimed as soon as he hugged her back.

He let out a roar of a laugh before giving a theatrical wince from a fake pain in his back. “We’re both getting too old for this, kiddo,” he replied.

“Hey, where’s my hug?!” Sam shouted at her from the other side of the car.

Cassie let out a loud sigh before slowly jogging over to where he stood. “Oh, alright!” she joked as she wrapped her arms around his torso.

“I missed you, too,” he shot back at her with sass in his voice.

As soon as the two parted, Cassie ran off back towards the house, leaving the others in the dust behind her. “Hm, I see how it is, Mom doesn’t get a hug!” Elena called after her daughter.

“Can’t. Too busy. Keep them occupied!” Cassie cried out as she bolted in to their house.

Despite being “too busy” Cassie reappeared fifteen minutes later in a simple black dress that Elena remembered buying her as a backup for her eighth grade graduation. With a much calmer demeanor, Cassie walked down the steps of their front porch. “We promised you good beer and service, so we plan to deliver,” She explained to Sully and Sam as she led them into the house.

Once inside, the two were shocked by the tidy interior that they had walked into. What had once looked as if every Drake-Fisher life had thrown up in it, now looked pristine, with the table centered and topped with a crisp tablecloth and nice place settings. “Hey!” Nate bellowed while he wiped off his hands on the closest dish towel he could find.

“You dress up nice, little brother!” Sam hollered back at him when he caught a glimpse of Nate’s fairly formal button up shirt and khakis. Nate stuck out his tongue at his brother in response as he grabbed the plates to set down on the table.

To everyone’s amazement, Nate had cooked a fancy meal without burning anything down or cutting off any finger parts. While Sam and Sully appreciated the effort, they both knew what they were trying to do. “This is a lovely meal, little brother, but I believe you still have to do whatever we say,” Sam brought up casually mid-meal. Nate and Cassie shot each other looks that told everyone at the table that they were banking on the older Drake forgetting the details of the bet.

“Yeah, the old gal could really use a good cleaning!” Sully chimed in.

“Tell me something I don’t know about my wife,” Nate joked back while arching his eyebrows and winking at Elena.

The three men at the table gave out hearty laughs while Cassie and Elena added their own two cents to the conversation. “Asshole…” Elena sighed out under her breath.

“Ew, gross!” Cassie exclaimed while jabbing Nate with her elbow.

Sully, still catching his breath from laughing, decided to correct him, “I meant the plane!”

Both Cassie and her father groaned at the thought of having to clean Sully’s plane. Again. Reluctantly, the two agreed to fulfill their part of the bet, and the next day found themselves cleaning Sully’s prized plane. Although neither wanted to, they realized it was a small price to pay for more time with their favorite surly, old men.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please, keep the requests coming! This fic is so much fun to write and work on! I am so glad that people are enjoying reading it as much as I enjoy writing it!


	12. Explosions

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A short novelization of that one blast scene from Uncharted 4...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am so sorry about the delay. I hope to be updating this piece more, as well as uploading other Uncharted pieces!

Explosions. Of course, Nate knew explosions. He knew them on a very personal level. From illegal explosives, to controlled, work environments, Nathan Drake had been well acquainted with blasts of all kinds. Still, he was caught off guard by Captain Avery’s exploding mummies. Defense or not, they were putting quite a strain on his hearing, and forced both him and Elena to slide and fall down a much larger cliff than expected.

After the two landed, Nathan was quick to maneuver himself above Elena, protecting her from the onslaught of debris that was raining upon them. Although it only took a moment, he was still pushed back into thoughts of Shambhala, and everything he wished that he could have protected her from all those years ago. Once the remaining wood had settled, he forced his own thoughts away. “Thanks, Captain Avery,” he spoke while shifting into a sitting position, hoping for a few moments to recover. “Just like old times, huh?” He joked back towards Elena, making fun of his own thoughts all the while.

The silence beside him paired with the ringing in his ears. He panicked, remembering it as the exact same sound that followed the blast from Harry’s grenade. “Elena?” Nate asked, hoping for a response. When none came, he rushed over to her body, lying still on the ground next to him. “Elena?” he exclaimed once more. With still no response, he began to pat her face, wishing for her to wake up. “Hey, hey!” Nate’s mind started racing, with his speech maintaining a similar speed. “Elena, c’mon!” He felt like he needed to be screaming. With even more shaking, he tried once again, “Elena!”

Slowly, a grin appeared on her face. “My… Hero…” she whispered with Nathan still perched over her.

As he peeled himself away from her, he felt dumbstruck. “Oh no, you didn’t do that…” While her response of giggles was a refreshing sound in comparison to the silence he faced moments earlier, he was still angry. “No, that is not funny!” he uttered as he pushed off of her and back into his own space.

Quickly, Elena sat up, ready to defend her honor. “Oh, you have done much worse!” She shot back at him.

“You gave me a goddamn heart attack!” he proclaimed, mirroring all the times Sully gave him a similar speech.

“Oh, let me listen,” Elena replied after Nate collapsed onto the ground dramatically.

She eased her head down towards his chest, and found peace the moment she heard the soft _thud_ that lulled her to sleep every night.  Finding comfort in the rise and fall of his chest, she gave her final verdict, “sounds good to me.”

Giving in to his own tiredness, Nate simply breathed out, “wha- you realize, we are now even for everything I have _ever_ pulled, alright?” Elena pulled away, scrunching her face into an incredulous look. “Yeah, like ever.” He stated definitively.

“No, not by a long shot,” she countered. After a short pause, her demeanor softened. “Gosh, you have got mud everywhere…” she observed as she wiped off some of the sludge that had found its way to Nate’s cheek.

The couple laughed for a few moments, both thinking back on all of the crazy things that had happened to them. Eventually, Nate piped up, “Anyone ever tell you, you have a funny idea of romantic?”

Elena smiled at the memory of their botched first kiss. Sure, she knew that she had feelings Nate, and she knew that Sully could only keep growing on her, but she never imagined that she would marry Nate, let alone have Sully give her away at their wedding. “Yeah, I may have heard that somewhere before,” she retorted.

In that moment, whether it be the near death experience or the flood of old memories, neither party felt the burdens of earlier revelations. Gently, the two found themselves meeting in the middle and shared a kiss that meant so much more to them.

After pulling back, Nate smiled back up at Elena. It was a look that she hadn’t seen in a long time: a genuine smile that wasn’t meant to hide anything or make her feel any better. No, it was a smile that he truly meant. “Good talk,” he spoke softly while he gave her chin a small stroke of affection.

“Good talk,” she agreed.

Once more, the couple bowed their heads, preparing for another kiss. Just before their lips could meet, another blast went off in the distance. The two scrambled to their feet, and Nathan Drake was left cursing explosions for the hundredth time.


End file.
